Ascent Trip Report

Arose 4:15 am at Guitar Lake and hit trail at 5 am, just as there was enough light to see. The weather was perfect, clear and calm. We had little trouble reaching Trail Crest where we changed into warmer clothes and dropped our packs for the rest of the ascent. One of our party somehow missed the sign and hiked an extra mile or so before realizing his mistake, and another raced to the top pack and all. We were all on the summit by 8:45 a.m, capping off a terrific five days of backpacking starting at Horseshoe Meadows. The descent to Whitney Portal was beautiful, and the switchbacks seemingly endless. I don't think I would enjoy ascending via this route, but going down just seemed to take a long time. Stopped at Mirror Lake for a break, then continued on down, eventually reaching bottom around 7:30 pm.

Summary Total Data

Elevation Gain:

2999 ft / 914 m

Elevation Loss:

6054 ft / 1845 m

Distance:

16 mi / 25.7 km

Quality:

10 (on a subjective 1-10 scale)

Route Conditions:

Maintained Trail, Snow on Ground

Gear Used:

Ski Poles, Tent Camp

Nights Spent:

4 nights away from roads

Weather:

Pleasant, Calm, Clearperfect

Ascent Statistics

Elevation Gain:

2999 ft / 914 m

Distance:

5 mi / 8 km

Route:

John Muir Trail

Trailhead:

Guitar Lake 11499 ft / 3504 m

Time Up:

3 Hours 44 Minutes

Descent Statistics

Elevation Loss:

6054 ft / 1845 m

Distance:

11 mi / 17.7 km

Route:

Whitney Portal

Trailhead:

Whitney Portal 8444 ft / 2573 m

Time Down:

5 Hours 30 Minutes

GPS Data for Ascent/Trip

GPS Waypoints - Hover or click to see name and lat/longPeaks: climbed and unclimbed by Walter BlumeClick Here for a Full Screen MapNote: GPS Tracks may not be accurate, and may not show the best route. Do not follow this route blindly. Conditions change frequently. Use of a GPS unit in the outdoors, even with a pre-loaded track, is no substitute for experience and good judgment. Peakbagger.com accepts NO responsibility or liability from use of this data.